


Across the Void

by flashforeward



Category: Hornblower (TV), Hornblower - C. S. Forester
Genre: Angst, Hopeful Ending, M/M, Post-Retribution, canon character death, ot3 full of each other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-17
Updated: 2017-07-17
Packaged: 2018-12-03 04:45:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 288
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11524824
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flashforeward/pseuds/flashforeward
Summary: It's William who bridges the gap.





	Across the Void

There's a hollow between them. An emptiness once full of life and love and laughter. They let it lie, those first few nights. It feels wrong, somehow. Like coming together without him would mean losing him all over again. So they keep that quiet emptiness between them, a gulf neither dares cross. It's Archie's ghost haunting them and Horatio almost believes there's no salvaging this.

No salvaging them.

It's William who bridges the gap.

It's a dark night, full of restless sleep and haunted dreams and Horatio wakes with a start and a cry and William reaches out, across Archie's place, to pull him close. Horatio stiffens at first, the feel of _only_ William's hands reaching out to comfort him a harsh reminder of all they have lost.

But then he feels the shake of William's body. It isn't only Horatio battling dark dreams tonight. He relaxes, turning into William's embrace and pressing a kiss to William's lips. He tastes salt. Tears.

"I can't lose you, too," William says, a tremor in his voice. "Please, Horatio. I can't."

"William." It's barely a whisper, but it carries everything. The ache of Archie's loss. The fear of what it means for him and William. They lost so much that day and he's been terrified they won't be able to find a way back to each other.

But here, now, in the dark and the quiet, they hold tight to one another and together they mourn and no Horatio knows there _is_ a way forward.

"I can't lose you, either," he whispers through his own tears.

And it's true.

Archie's empty place will stay with them, he knows, but they've made their choice. They won't let their loss drive them apart.


End file.
